The present invention relates to an instrument and a method for scrubbing the human eye corneal epithelium.
A high percentage of the population suffers various vision defects, including focusing (refractive) defects such as short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism. Refractive defects are usually corrected by wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses.
Refractive defects are caused by an imperfect three-dimensional spatial structure of the cornea and the eye bulb size, erg. myopia, a near-sightedness resulting from the elongation of the eyeball so that parallel rays are focused in front of the retina, or hyperopia, a far-sightedness, resulting from an error of refraction in which rays of light entering the eye are brought into focus behind the retina.
Avoiding the need for wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses is made possible by reshaping the shape of the exterior surface of the cornea.
At present, several surgical technical methods are used to treat refractive errors, the most reliable treatment using laser tools.
Removal of the epithelium is usually done by means of manual scrubbing using a scrubbing tool or blade. The scrubbing tools currently in use are crude tools, for multiple use, are usually made of one piece of rust-free metal, such as stainless steel, and have a shape resembling that of a golf club, with a planar scrubbing surface. These tools have many drawbacks as a result of their structure, including repetitive scraping of the scrubbing surface as a result of repeated use, discomfort in holding the tool, the fact that the tool is highly traumatic to the cornea, especially to the stroma layer, and can even scratch the cornea when used without care, and can also be contaminated, thus requiring sterilization between uses, as well as the very grave drawback of the planar scrubbing surface applying pointed pressure on the cornea.
There is therefore the need for a scrubbing tool, whose scrubbing surface is a curved surface adapted to the shape of the cornea, and is intended for single use.
The prior art does not teach or suggest such a tool.